Scientific Director of the Brightcore Core Facility

1 - Working at the VUB

For more than 50 years, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel has stood for freedom, equality and solidarity, and this is very much alive on our campuses among students and staff alike. 

At the VUB, you will find a diverse collection of personalities: innovators pur sang, but above all people who are 100% their authentic selves. With some 4,000 employees, we are the largest Dutch-speaking employer, in the private sector, in Brussels; an international city with which we are only too happy to connect and where (around) our 4 campuses are located. 

Add to this our principle of free research - in which self-reflection, a critical attitude and an open, creative mind around scientific and social issues are central - and you have a university that is fundamentally groundbreaking and pioneering in education and research. In short: the VUB all over again. 

Moreover, the VUB is a member of EUTOPIA, an alliance of like-minded European universities, all ready to reinvent themselves.

2 - Position description

We are looking for a part-time professor for the function 'Scientific Director of the Brightcore Core Facility'. 

Work package:

Context

BRIGHTcore was conceived as an interuniversity platform more than 10 years ago, originally servicing  VUB and ULB universities, including their respective university hospitals and currently further expanded to UCL and its hospital CuSL. In this platform, heavy – expensive – genomics equipment is centralized. Currently, the platform hosts Next Generation Sequencing (Illumina NovaSeq/MiSeq and Nanopore GridION/PromethION), Microarray (Illumina iScan, Affymetrix GeneScan), digital droplet PCR (Bio-rad QX600), Chromium X droplet generator (10x Genomics) and Optical Genome Mapping (Bionano Stratys) equipment, including all accessory devices to perform DNA/RNA quantification, qualification and next generation sequencing library preparations. Moreover, BRIGHTcore employs a Hamilton NGS STAR V liquid handling robot to fully automate high throughput analyses. This equipment has been partly obtained via external funding through several VUB or ULB PIs and has been partly financed by the hospitals. Besides this extensive range of genomics platforms, BRIGHTcore owns and maintains a state-of-the-art IT infrastructure for in-house BioIT compute analyses and data storage. 

The IT infrastructure is made available to perform primary and secondary analysis of large genomic datasets and custom analyses for more complex projects/requests. BRIGHTcore aims to deliver qualitative support (BELAC accredited according to ISO 17025 required for RIZIV/INAMI reimbursed diagnostic assays) and to assist research groups in running and analyzing genomic experiments.

• As Scientific Director, you head the Core Facility Brightcore and bear ultimate responsibility for its operations.
• You help define the mission of the Core Facility and the strategic vision in line with the central policy.
• You are in charge of staff members working within the Core Facility and manage them.
• You lead the communication with both internal and external users and stakeholders of the Core Facility and ensure the visibility of the Core Facility at local, national and international level.
• You are responsible for the budgets (revenues and expenses) of the Core Facility.
• You draw up a business plan for the Core Facility Brightcore 
• You draft operating regulations and user policies for the users (internal and external) of the Core Facility, as well as set up a steering committee and user committee of relevant stakeholders. You chair the steering committee and user group meetings.
• You act as point of contact to/for other VUB departments.
• You take care of and manage the access modalities, reservations and user fees of internal and external users.
• You organise regular training courses for users and information sessions for potentially interested users.
• You monitor the latest scientific developments for the methodologies and techniques implemented in the Core Facility, evaluate them on a regular basis, and communicate them to users.
• You implement new relevant techniques in the Core facility and advise, where necessary, on experimental design.
• You network within the university, across departments and faculties, and look out for already available equipment that fits within the Core facility.
• You maintain relationships with the other Core Facilities and encourage collaboration.
• You survey the needs among users, write, and coordinate new requests for renewal of the scientific infrastructure as well as coordinate the maintenance and end-of-life replacement of existing equipment.
• You take the necessary steps to ensure a safe working environment within the Core Facility.
• Together with your team, you develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and expertly optimise routine procedures.
• You establish a data management plan for the Core Facility.
• You annually report the policy and operation of the Core Facility on utilisation, research output and budget management, to the Research Council.
• You are responsible for the recruitment, supervision and contract termination of staff in accordance with VUB regulations.

For this function, our Brussels Humanities, Sciences & Engineering Campus (Elsene) will serve as your home base. 

3 - Profile

What do we expect from you?

• You hold a PhD-degree in Sciences or Bioengineering. 

• You have a minimal affiliation of 80% at Vrije Universiteit Brussel or the UZ Brussels (Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel).
• You have at least 5 years of working experience as a postdoctoral researcher.
• You have an excellent knowledge of genomics, more specifically around research infrastructure and research-related software, including the necessary bioinformatics solutions.
• Preferably, you have leadership experience.
• You have experience in writing funding applications and reports.
• You are communicative (both written and oral) and service-oriented.
• You are the point of contact and source of information on Genomics for internal and external users.
• You are fluent in Dutch and English.
• You are entrepreneurial and have strong organisational skills, you have experience with intellectual property in this setting and can work with confidential material.
• You have a great sense of responsibility and attach great importance to quality, finish, accuracy and cooperation.
• You are proactive, pragmatic and decisive.

• You subscribe to the university’s vision of education. The full text in relation to this is available on the university website.

• Every first appointment is dependent upon the successful delivery of a teaching session.  

• Language regulations:

A member of the academic staff who is entrusted with a teaching assignment must also be able to demonstrate that the language of instruction is known at ERK level C1 through a qualification certificate or through an adequate diploma. The VUB also provides courses in, for example, academic English.

The administrative language of the VUB is Dutch. In case of insufficient knowledge of Dutch, the VUB will provide an integration course. After a maximum of five years, a member of the academic staff must demonstrate adequate knowledge of the administrative language (ERK level B2).

For a complete overview, please consult the complete language regulations on https://jobs.vub.be/content/Regulations-concerning-language-proficiency/. 

Certificates demonstrating knowledge of the language can already be added to the application. 

The VUB wants to be a reflection of the society where everyone's talent is valued, regardless of gender, age, religion, skin color, migration background, disability and neurodiversity.

4 - Offer

Are you going to be our new colleague?

You’ll be offered an appointment in one of the grades of Independent Academic Personnel, for an assignment of 0.1 FTE, for 3 years (renewable, on condition of the positive evaluation of the activities), with planned starting date 01/07/2025. 

You’ll receive a salary linked to one of the scales set by the government.

At the VUB, you’re guaranteed an open, involved and diverse workplace where you are offered opportunities to (further) build on your career.

As well as this, you will also enjoy various other benefits:

• Extensive homeworking options, a telework allowance of 50 euros per month OR an internet fee of 20 euros per month;
• An open and informal working environment where attention is paid to work-life balance, and exceptional holiday arrangements with 35 days of leave (based on a fulltime contract), closure between Christmas and New Year and 3 extra leave days;
• Cost-free hospitalisation insurance;
• Full reimbursement of your home-to-work commute with public transport according to VUB-policy, and/or compensation if you come by bike; 
• A wide selection of meals in our campus restaurants at attractive prices;
• Excellent and affordable facilities for sport and exercise, a range of discounts via Benefits@Work (in  all kinds of shops, on flights, in petrol stations, amusement parks...) and Ecocheques; 
• Nursery near campus, discount on holiday camps; 
• The space to form your job content and to continuously learn through our VUB learning platforms and training courses;
• And finally: great colleagues with a healthy drive.

5 - Interested?

Is this the job you’ve been dreaming of?

Then apply, at the latest on 04/04/2025, via jobs.vub.be, and upload the following documents:

• your motivation letter, including your vision on education and research, and an explanation about the development of your future research;
• your curriculum vitae, including you academic dossier; 
• your diploma (not applicable for VUB alumni) and language certificates.

Do you have questions about the job content? Contact Mieke Gijsemans at onderzoeksraad@vub.be or on +32 (0)2 629 21 08.

Would you like to know what it’s like to work at the VUB? Go to jobs.vub.be, and find all there is to know about our campuses, benefits, strategic goals and your future colleagues.

Would you like more information about EUTOPIA? Go to eutopia-university.eu, and read more about the role of the VUB in the development of the EUTOPIA alliance.